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In this episode, we perceive an interesting perspective on love, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 78, penned by Nakirar. Set in the mountains of ‘Kurinji’, the verse speaks in the voice of a friend to the man, chiding the man for the state he finds himself in.
பெரு வரை மிசையது நெடு வெள் அருவி
முதுவாய்க் கோடியர் முழவின் ததும்பி,
சிலம்பின் இழிதரும் இலங்கு மலை வெற்ப!-
நோதக்கன்றே-காமம் யாவதும்
நன்று என உணரார்மாட்டும்
சென்றே நிற்கும் பெரும் பேதைமைத்தே.
All about the foolishness of the feeling called love! The opening words ‘பெரு வரை மிசையது’ meaning ‘atop a huge peak’ takes us to a summit, and here, we take in the ‘நெடு வெள் அருவி’ referring to ‘a flowing white waterfall’. In the words ‘முதுவாய்க் கோடியர் முழவு’, we glimpse at ‘the tribe of dancers, renowned for their wisdom and age’ as well as their musical instruments, ‘the drums’. ‘நோதக்கன்றே’ meaning ‘it’s to be abhorred’ seems to cast aspersions on something. Ending with the words ‘பெரும் பேதைமைத்தே’ meaning ‘it’s an act of idiocy’, the verse intrigues our curiosity!
What could be that abhorrent thing described so? The context reveals that the man had met a lady and fallen in love with her. Suffering with thoughts of her, the man loses his health. Seeing the changed state of the man, his friend says to him, “The long white cascade that arises above in the tall peak, resounding akin to the drums of wise old dancers, descends down the slopes in the mountains of your domain. This feeling of love – it’s to be cast aside with scorn, for it seems to stand and plead even before those who know not that it’s good. Such a state is indeed, one of extreme foolishness!” With these words, the friend seems to be strongly advising the man to avoid that folly called love!
In the verses so far, we have often listened to the justification from the man’s side about his love but rarely have we heard the words of the man’s friend opposing it, and this verse is one of those rare instances. This friend starts by taking us to the very top of a tall mountain and there, he points to a cascade, starting its journey. It’s a long white waterfall and it seems to roar with the sound of drums. The friend says not any old drums but that of the wise, old dancers! Ending this description with the words about how this cascade is descending down, the man’s friend outlines the man’s fertile domain. From this description of land, the friend turns to abstractions and says that there is something that must be scorned and avoided. Then, he goes on to explain that something is the feeling of love. He states his reason for his opinion by characterising love as that feeling that seems to gravitate towards even those who do not know its worth and he ends with the severe words that the man must avoid that great act of foolishness!
Reading and understanding this verse, I came away stunned by the similarity of this thought to the lyric in a modern film song ‘Vaaya moodi summa iruda’, in which the hero’s friends scold the man for the madness of love that seems to be taking roots in their foolish friend. For instance, look at these specific lines, “கண்ண கட்டி காட்டுல விட்டுடும்டா; காதல் ஒரு வம்புடா”, translated as ‘It will blindfold and leave you in a jungle; Love is nothing but deep trouble!” Two thousand years ago, the ancestor of these kind-hearted friends, seems to be sharing the exact same opinion about love. His anger towards love is that it’s shaking up the man and making him fall from his high state. In fact, the friend’s description of the man’s country, where a waterfall journeys from the tall peaks to fall into the plains, is a metaphor for how the man too has lost his stature in falling for a mere girl! With this imagery, the friend seems to imbue the modern English phrase of ‘falling in love’ in an apt and picturesque way. With the subtext of those wise old drummers, the friend is also nudging the man to act with the wisdom that his stature demands! If the man’s love is true, he will stand up to this friend and proclaim that his love has not descended to the undeserving but to the perfect girl of his dreams. Yet, as this verse hints, it’s the friend’s duty to speak these words of advice and offer this resistance, which will be an indirect instrument to nurture and strengthen that budding love in the man!
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